NBA Regular Season & Playoffs 2017-18

Osmosis Jones

This Spurs team is just a bit sad to watch, without Kawhi they're just a group of old men. Would've preferred to see the Nuggets in the playoffs.

Itssoeasy

Well after a half the spurs are like a miss firing boiler.

Meatyfubu

That was a painful watch. The Spurs are just too slow. It's a pity Rudy Gay can't create off the dribble and as crafty as Manu & Parker are they can't beat their man anymore.

"Fish out of water" doesn't remotely go far enough in explaining poor Slo-Mo tonight.

Gregk961

The Spurs-Warriors game was awful, worst way to start the playoffs.

Im surprised most people picked the Raptors to win easy, I think they could struggle to hold down the Wizards. The Wiz are a strange team though in fairness.

NinetyTwoTeam

Gregk961 wrote: »

The Spurs-Warriors game was awful, worst way to start the playoffs.

Im surprised most people picked the Raptors to win easy, I think they could struggle to hold down the Wizards. The Wiz are a strange team though in fairness.

There's a reason the Raps are in 1st and the Wiz in 8th. Wiz have no defense. Think this is the year Raps finally make it out of the East, they've turned a corner this season, Boston's decimated by injury, Cleveland's been a mess, Philly's got no playoff experience. the door is wide open for them if they can just stop losing game 1s

Meatyfubu

NinetyTwoTeam wrote: »

There's a reason the Raps are in 1st and the Wiz in 8th. Wiz have no defense. Think this is the year Raps finally make it out of the East, they've turned a corner this season, Boston's decimated by injury, Cleveland's been a mess, Philly's got no playoff experience. the door is wide open for them if they can just stop losing game 1s

Raptors exemplify what a regular season team is vs a playoff team. They're probably the team I'm most negative on relative to wins.
As I said before players who live in the mid range suffer in the post season, any of DeRozans previous numbers suggest this. He's shot better from deep but I'm not convinced it translates yet.

Raptors have largely turned a corner because of their depth, the vast majority of whom are very inexperienced Siakam, OG, VanFleet, Poetl and Powell all have 2 years or less NBA experience.
Post season is about match ups and thats what 76ers and Cavs have, even the Bucks have it they give teams match up problems. Raptors don't, Valancunis will be made redundant at times.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the Wizards win but I think they get through and lose to the Cavs in 5 or 6

Osmosis Jones

Raps v Wizards is a much better game, Lowry and Derozan doing their usual playoff act so far though.

Gregk961

NinetyTwoTeam wrote: »

There's a reason the Raps are in 1st and the Wiz in 8th. Wiz have no defense.

The Wizards had no Wall for a large chunk of the regular season in fairness.

Its easy to make the argument that Wall and Beal are a better 1-2 tandem than Lowry and DeRozan and at worst they should cancel each other out in most games. I'm just not convinced the Raptors can lean on their bench in the playoffs like they did for a lot of the reg season.

Pyjamarama

Philly could take some stopping... that was EXTREMELY impressive and without JoJo... I'll never bet against LeBron but he'll have to beat them on his own if they play in the east finals.

Meatyfubu

Pyjamarama wrote: »

Philly could take some stopping... that was EXTREMELY impressive and without JoJo... I'll never bet against LeBron but he'll have to beat them on his own if they play in the east finals.

I'm high on them and it was impressive but expect some regression to the mean. No way will they maintain 65% from deep. The scoreline flattered them but hopefully it won't matter once Embiid is back but that team could lose a couple to Miami, 27 points is not a fair representation of performance on either side

NufcNavan

ARE THE SIXERS BETTER WITHOUT EMBIID?!?!?!

Also, Playoffs Rondo is a different beast.

Itssoeasy

Meatyfubu wrote: »

I'm high on them and it was impressive but expect some regression to the mean. No way will they maintain 65% from deep. The scoreline flattered them but hopefully it won't matter once Embiid is back but that team could lose a couple to Miami, 27 points is not a fair representation of performance on either side

This.

I saw the scoreline before I watch the condensed game highlights, but yeah Philly most certainly didn't have it all it's own way in the first half. Miami couldn't buy a basket for a long stretch of the 3rd which helped and JJ Reddick got hot and ended with 28 points. I'm still high on the sixers but last night these young fellas got a bit of reality check of the difference between regular season and playoff basketball.

Pyjamarama

Itssoeasy wrote: »

This.

I saw the scoreline before I watch the condensed game highlights, but yeah Philly most certainly didn't have it all it's own way in the first half. Miami couldn't buy a basket for a long stretch of the 3rd which helped and JJ Reddick got hot and ended with 28 points. I'm still high on the sixers but last night these young fellas got a bit of reality check of the difference between regular season and playoff basketball.

I dunno... the sixers turned on the D in the second half. They finished with the 3rd best D in the regular season, being opened up like they were in the first half was very unlike them. Covington getting in early foul trouble didn't help. You don't really want Marco and JJ on the floor at the same time unless you're down a fair bit.

I stayed up to watch it and the sixers were super impressive in the second half. Still a mile away form being able to win a title but in a weak east they could make the finals which would be pretty insane really.

Tbh Miami match up about as well as any team in the East does with Philly and played them hard this season. They have a ton of length to allow people to actually challenge Ben on switches. Fultz looked very good off the bench too. His shot is still ropey as hell but his athleticism is Hardenesque.

Itssoeasy

Pyjamarama wrote: »

I dunno... the sixers turned on the D in the second half. They finished with the 3rd best D in the regular season, being opened up like they were in the first half was very unlike them. Covington getting in early foul trouble didn't help. You don't really want Marco and JJ on the floor at the same time unless you're down a fair bit.

I stayed up to watch it and the sixers were super impressive in the second half. Still a mile away form being able to win a title but in a weak east they could make the finals which would be pretty insane really.

Tbh Miami match up about as well as any team in the East does with Philly and played them hard this season. They have a ton of length to allow people to actually challenge Ben on switches. Fultz looked very good off the bench too. His shot is still ropey as hell but his athleticism is Hardenesque.

Yeah but that will come along hopefully. Lonzo Ball has a really strange shooting action. I was taught to shoot a basketball by using my strong hand on the ball and my weaker hand on the side of the ball, and to bring the ball from behind my head and bring it forward in a straight line.Lonzo seems to go out and kind of back in.

Meatyfubu

Pyjamarama wrote: »

I dunno... the sixers turned on the D in the second half. They finished with the 3rd best D in the regular season, being opened up like they were in the first half was very unlike them. Covington getting in early foul trouble didn't help. You don't really want Marco and JJ on the floor at the same time unless you're down a fair bit.

I stayed up to watch it and the sixers were super impressive in the second half. Still a mile away form being able to win a title but in a weak east they could make the finals which would be pretty insane really.

Tbh Miami match up about as well as any team in the East does with Philly and played them hard this season. They have a ton of length to allow people to actually challenge Ben on switches. Fultz looked very good off the bench too. His shot is still ropey as hell but his athleticism is Hardenesque.

I thought the Sixers struggled defensively at times. Covington could end up as best 3&D player in the league and Simmons is a defensive nightmare. Embiid speaks for himself.
That said they certainly looked raw at points, lots of biting on pump fakes, they made Olynk look great at times.
I've championed them for a while now but I wouldn't confident for Embiid to take too much time getting back, obviously not rush back but they look vulnerable

Harden isn't much of an athlete? He's more crafty than athletic. Fultz is certainly a better athlete than Harden.

ButtersSuki

Big win for the Pelicans. Figured that series would be very close but didn't expect them to take Game 1 away. They have a real chance with Davis who has carried his regular season form through into the Play Offs.

For anyone who didn't see it, Pop's post game press conference was hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DRyh-WxjUA

Itssoeasy

Jesus I'm a bit nervous I have to say. The celtics should win this series but over a seven game series anything can happen. I hope the celtics don't suffer anymore injuries.

Pyjamarama

Meatyfubu wrote: »

I thought the Sixers struggled defensively at times. Covington could end up as best 3&D player in the league and Simmons is a defensive nightmare. Embiid speaks for himself.
That said they certainly looked raw at points, lots of biting on pump fakes, they made Olynk look great at times.
I've championed them for a while now but I wouldn't confident for Embiid to take too much time getting back, obviously not rush back but they look vulnerable

Harden isn't much of an athlete? He's more crafty than athletic. Fultz is certainly a better athlete than Harden.

You're doing a disservice to Harden there. He's probably the best in the league at attacking the rim to draw fouls. Thats due to his athleticism. He's not the biggest or fastest but his body control is elite. Thats what Fultz has too. Its different to Westbrook but its no less impressive athletically imo.

The Sixers D was awful in the first half. Giving up 60 points is really unlike them. But like I said a large part of that was RoCo being out with foul trouble. Marco is a good player but a complete liability on D.

The Sixers starting 5 when JoJo gets back is the best starting 5 in the east imo. The issue is that LeBron doesn't really care about those things. :P

Meatyfubu

Pyjamarama wrote: »

You're doing a disservice to Harden there. He's probably the best in the league at attacking the rim to draw fouls. Thats due to his athleticism. He's not the biggest or fastest but his body control is elite. Thats what Fultz has too. Its different to Westbrook but its no less impressive athletically imo.

The Sixers D was awful in the first half. Giving up 60 points is really unlike them. But like I said a large part of that was RoCo being out with foul trouble. Marco is a good player but a complete liability on D.

The Sixers starting 5 when JoJo gets back is the best starting 5 in the east imo. The issue is that LeBron doesn't really care about those things. :P

Easily the best at drawing fouls and borrowing an American phrase "he can stop on a dime". Here's an article alluding to what you're talking about "Deceleration ": https://www.wsj.com/articles/james-hardens-secret-talent-is-slowing-down-1486667420

I see your point but I don't see the similarities yet but perhaps I will.

rushfan

ButtersSuki wrote:

For anyone who didn't see it, Pop's post game press conference was hilarious.

I did, legend!!

Itssoeasy

Marcus smart is shooing the ball before the game tonight. Hopefully he might be back for the second round if the Celtics make it to the second round.

Carcharodon

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Big win for the Pelicans. Figured that series would be very close but didn't expect them to take Game 1 away. They have a real chance with Davis who has carried his regular season form through into the Play Offs.

For anyone who didn't see it, Pop's post game press conference was hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DRyh-WxjUA

Remarkable how good the Pelicans are playing given what happened to Cousins, just shows how good Davis is and how well the team is playing.

On Pop, saw that and it was funny. I love Pop and think he is the best coach ever but I do feel sometimes he can be a bit of a bully, we all know most of these questions are dumb and reporters just going through the motions but he can really belittle them.

I suppose in a perfect world if all coaches were like him, it might give way to more substantial questions etc but not going to happen

Itssoeasy

Celtics 29 bucks 17 after one quarter.

ButtersSuki

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Jesus I'm a bit nervous I have to say. The celtics should win this series but over a seven game series anything can happen. I hope the celtics don't suffer anymore injuries.

I’m a big Boston fan, but I can’t really see them winning this series given the injuries. Giannis will be the best player on the court by a mile so that should be enough to push Milwaukee over the line.

Itssoeasy

Celtics 33 bucks 41 2nd quarter 5:20 left in half.

Itssoeasy

Celtics 44 bucks 47 HT

Itssoeasy

Celtics 70 bucks 66 end 3rd Quarter.

Itssoeasy

Celtics 99 bucks 99 end of regulation.

Gregk961

Unreal end to the 4th. Rozier does his best Harden impression to go up by 3 with 0.5 left and then Middleton bombs one from near half court to tie it. Has been sloppy enough at times but I'd say it's going to be a nailbiting series.

Itssoeasy

Gregk961 wrote: »

Unreal end to the 4th. Rozier does his best Harden impression to go up by 3 with 0.5 left and then Middleton bombs one from near half court to tie it. Has been sloppy enough at times but I'd say it's going to be a nailbiting series.

Middleton was nearly at the scores table.